In case of Deceptishenanigans
Autobot Message: 3/105 Posted Author Update: Outbound Thu Feb 07 Blurr ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Text-only, from Autobot Intelligence. Outbound has requested to be interrogated. He has agreed to submit himself to our custody, and promises to meet a party of any size at the coordinates specified (Here, the coordinates to a location in the Sahara on the borders of the Congo Basin have been inserted). We will await further instructions from Command on how to proceed. The message from Outbound is attached. It is an encrypted text-only reply message from Outbound to the frequency utilized by Autobot Intelligence for contact: I am en route to our rendezvous point. I submit to your custody to be transported for the purpose of interrogation. Please send a greeting party of any size, however discretion for my own safety is a necessity. Torque chuckles, "Oh, well if Repugnus dealing with it, we shouldn't have to worry about him anymore." Blurr says, "So, Repugnus. We going to this rendevous point?" Blurr says, "You're in charge of Intel...it's your call." Repugnus says, "Oh, sure. Sure. Watch out for ambushes, bombs, yadda yadda." Repugnus says, "Give him a very invasive patdown, heeheehee." Air Raid says, "What." Blurr says, "It's probably a trap." Repugnus says, "Yes. Act under that assumption. Who you rolling out with?" First Aid says, "Good luck, guys." Blurr says, "Whoever we can get, honestly. If this is a trap, who knows what he has up his greasy tailpipes?" Repugnus says, "I'd suggest someone powerful and useful. So, not Rodimus." Skids says, "Well, I helped start this. Guess I should see it along." Savanna The Sahara desert gives way to a vast transitional zone of grassy plains, plateaus, and mountains as the equator is approached and rainfall increases substantially, enough to gradually transform a desert into a rainforest. Far, far to the south, sprawling majestically along the horizon are the silhouettes of what can only be described as a jungle. Coming closer to the outskirts of this region, you can clearly define the lush vegetation and trademark canopy of a large, fertile rainforest. This mysterious, yet marvelously beautiful sight before you is strangely attractive. Repugnus says, "If only we had someone who could provide some hefty backup in case of Deceptishenanigans! If only..." The Decepticon shuttle pierces the thick white clouds hanging high over the African Savannah before making a dangerously swift descent toward the grassy plains. Several winderbeast take flight, galloping with all haste in every which direction before the sea of mammals comes together as they rejoin the fleeing community, while Triumph speeds onward just a hundred meters from the earth. Right on schedule is the Decepticon, as promised once the Triumph slows to a stationary hover and then descends the rest of the way to the ground the boarding hatch opens and the infantrymech peers about the Savannah. Blurr much prefers to travel on foot or by simply using his hovercar mode as far as he possibly can. Which basically meant anywhere on the planet. Thus, the speedster treks across the African continent, dust flying up in his wake. He tries not to leave the others behind, but everyone has the coordinates--not like anyone's going to get lost. And small numbers? Pff. Yeah right. That's just like begging to fall into a Decepticon trap. Skids is saying through his car speakers, "A shuttle did come down where he said it would, so if there's a surprise waiting for us, it's still on its way." Compact minivan follows with more difficulty, as the potholes in the gravel road give his wheels more trouble than they give the hovercar. Hubcap's arrival isn't quite as ... /obvious/ as Blurr's, with all the dust he's kicking up. But somehow he manages to make his way to the meeting point, dusting himself down as he does. And the last to arrive is the minibot Tailgate. Seems like he's always the last to leave and last to arrive. But Blurr is just way to fast, and he figures, what's the hurry? The Decepticon has only just arrived. He arrives in his alt mode, but protoforms upon catching with the others. The ants come marching two by two--hurrah...hurrahahah! Outbound's indigo optics flash as he spots the clouds of dust kicked up all around the supersonic hovercar, already certain that the first Autobot on the scene is none other than the blue devil by the name of Blurr. "Punctual as ever," he muses, a smirk touching his expression though it is gone within an instant. The others on their way, he notes the group lagging behind the tip of the greeting spear and the Decepticon folds his arms before his chest. "Discretion has taken on an entirely different appearance from what I remember..." the infantrymech muses dryly. Hubcap waves a hand in frony of his face, wafting away residual airborne dust. "All that discretion requires is that this little get-together remains solely with those present. Which of course, also cannot be guaranteed." Blurr likes his dramatic entrances, yeah. He examines the area upon arriving, searching for any evidence of a trap. The speedster folds his arms. "We're using our discretion, Outbound, which says that this little 'rendevous' is bound to be some kind of trap. Wanting to be interrogated? Come on." Skids apparently figures he might as well complete the set by switching to his robot mode. For now, he hangs back, arms crossed himself. Tailgate sighs, folding his arms and sidling over to where Blurr was so that he could get a clearer view of the Decepticon that is soon going to be interrogated. He just hopes this doesn't get too ugly. He's still not sure about whether Outbound had lied or not. "Something that is made less and less likely the more heads gathered here under the sun," Outbound replies blandly to Hubcap, though it is Blurr who remains the focus of the Decepticon's direct attention. At least it was so until Tailgate visage sparked a memory, and the indigo orbs within his countenance slowly took in the minibot. 'You' he seemed to say without speaking, though calmly enough the Eeeevil Decepticon's gaze turned back to the Courier that he'd come to know oh so well of late. A scoff is offered to Blurr. No one could ever claim the blue speedster was a fool at least. "Your paranoia is justifiable, surely... Uncalled for, but justifiable none the less," the infantrymech offers with a dismissive wave of his left hand through the air. "As you can see there is no -trap- here... Although again, you bringing such a large party..." Outbound shakes his head. "Hopefully there will be no ill-timed patrols. In any case you know what I am here for," he says and begins to descend the Triumph's boarding ramp. "Have you bothered to check the intel that I gave you initially? Validate it in any way?" Hopefully they did that much. "You will note that I have not deceived you..." Yet. Muahahah! Ah-hem.. I mean never. Never. Skids responds with a bit of cynicism. "First tank of gas is free, not even any sugar in it. How much does the second cost?" "Well, Trypticon isn't in Newfoundland any more, we noticed that much." Blurr says, smirking. "As for the rest--we figured it wasn't really worth our time, anyway." The speedster glances around briefly at the others, seeing that they had finally arrived. His sensor arrays are all over the surrounding terrain, searching for any hint of an ambush or trap of some sort. Nothing, though. Finally, he shrugs. "Well. We didn't come here to chat over petrol-invigorated engex, so...let's just get this over with." Before he is even done speaking Blurr has already whipped out a pair of stasis cuffs and begins restraining the Decepticon. "Skids, Hubcap--watch our perimeter. Could still be a trap. " Skids asks a little warily as the kink gear comes out, "You really think he'll go for that?" Hubcap raises an optic ridge at Blurr. "Let's not get carried away, here, this guy met us on his own volition, how about we grant a little leeway." He tilts his head and addresses the 'Con. "I'm listening." "What choice do I have?" Outbound asks, his voice still calm as a light rain of a hot summer day. "While the objections to immediate cuffing are appreciated- there are precious few ways to get what I want. What I want requires your assistance, and Autobot assistance will never be given to a Decepticon unless the stigma of deception and paranoia are sufficiently erased..." Outbound smirks, and the mech offers his wrists only to pause a moment and retract and his smirk drops. "Wait... I require your word. All of your word on your honor, on all that makes you Autobots, on your very conscience that allowing you to take me into custody is to determine whether or not I may be trusted only... That this is not a death sentance, of the mind or chassis." A pause, and Outbound looks again to Tailgate briefly, and then to Hubcap, Skids and then Blurr again in turn. "And when you are finished with me you will release me...whole." Who knows how truly 'good' these Autobots actually are, right? Risky, but not bloody crazy! THAT's the Outbound way. "...Amusing to think--MY honor is sound, but after your previous assassination attempt on my life the first time I met you here peacefully one must at least try to gain some assurances." Skids adds one condition: "I agree if he does." He seems honesly surprised that Outbound would agree to put himself at their mercy at all. And there are plenty of loopholes in the letter of--no, he's not going to play that game. "Wouldn't want to live another million years with nobody trusting me." "Without that," Skids asks, "What've we got?" Repugnus says, "Geeze, you guys put him in his straightjacket yet or not?" "Assasination?" Blurr pffs. "I didn't try to assassinate you, glitchead. I was just doing my best to err on the side of caution." He says, though he lowers the cuffs when Outbound withdraws his wrists. Mostly because Hubcap has told him to grant the Decepticon some leeway and he outranks the speedster, though he finds himself a bit annoyed at this. "As for my word on you being released in one piece--sorry. I can't guarantee anything. Mostly because not all of that is under my control or even within my jurisdiction." he shrugs, smirking slightly. "I'm just a courier, remember? And you're the one asking to be interrogated. You want this, you get it on OUR terms. You don't like our terms, we can always just shoot you in the head." Blurr says, "I'm -trying-, Pug." Hubcap raises a hand to cover his optics for a moment. "We've got Repugnus in charge of Intel, is what." He heaves a sigh, then studies the 'Con closely. "We'll have to convince him. So you'll have to make some assurances of your own..." Skids tries to act as a peacemaker. "Well, if you can't, I can't, because we all know I'm not going to start firing on my own side. So I guess we don't have enough trust, and we've got to do it freehand." Earth patrol. This sucks. And of all places the Savanna Desert is where the dead looking Seeker chose to take the order to patrol. I mean it’s not like he had much choice in the matter, it was the desert or... nothing. But when you have to fly, you will take anything. Looking like a mobile portable black hole, the dull ebony colored Seeker is screaming through the sky, sensors sweeping the area much faster than any earth technology could manage. And his mind processes the information faster than any earth technology could begin to try as well. Its boring work and the Zombie Seeker has an old earth band; Disturbed playing thorugh his sound system. Indestructible is playing and with total disinterest the black F15A flies straight toward this unique gathering of Transformers. His sensors ping instantly and he perks up. Autobots and... one Decepticon. What? 'I thought Autobots were about fairness' Windshear thinks to himself. F15s are amazing aircraft. They really are. They have a massive air brake right behind the cockpit and in an instant that long plate of metal slams upward. The dead looking living jet suddenly slows up and nearly comes to a complete stop. But it stays in the air. F15s can also come to almost 0 miles per hour and not fall out of the sky. Neat, eh? The Seeker wing overs suddenly and heads for the group of mechs below. Decending quickly Windshear suddenly transforms and lands off to the left of the group. The faint sounds of the song Industructible can be heard comeing from his chest as his fists clench. With a *SHIINNKT* sound (think Wolverine's claws) twin arm double-edged blades extend to their full length from the backs of his wrists to hang almost to his knees. He looks from Outbound to the Autobots, his mouth twisting into a sneer when he sees Blurr. "Five against one." his rich captivating baratone rings out. "Thats really brave, /Autobots/. Nothing better to do, no charity to participate in so 'lets gang up on one small Decepticon and call ourselves heroes?" Outbound nods to Skids. Now that's the kind of Autobots that he remembers from the days of Megatron before he was released from stasis! Blurr however, wow... How the mighty have fallen, or is would that be how the mighty have 'evolved'? A chuckle escapes the Decepticon at Blurr's comment, and his indigo optics come alive. "You sound just like a Decepticon, Blurr... I am impressed. I heard that Optimus Prime is no longer with us... He would have been so proud," the infantrymech jibes before nodding to Hubcap and Skids. "Very well. I do understand. It is not your decision... There is so much for you and your fellow Autobots to gain from this. So much for me to gain as well, and if things go well then we shall all prosper. It is indeed on me to convince your people that honoring this deal is worth not deactivating me, tossing me into stasis, or maiming me to the point at which I am given a true desire to betray you." Outbound offers his wrists again. "Shall we?" Outbound blinks. 'Oh-crap-no' explodes all over his expression and quickly the Decepticon glances up at the incoming F-15 Streak Eagle. "I knew it... Too many of you," the infantrymech curses and shoots his gaze back to Blurr. "This is over... Take this at least and review it. See my sincerity. We will have another opportunity, but quick we must make a show of combat-" he hisses and leaps back away from the group of Bots, while simultaneously leveling his left forearm which whines and clicks as a magazine is loaded into a forearm ballistics launcher. "The tide has turned, Autobots! Taste hot death!" Skids hesitates to warn him, but in a clock-cycle decision, decides to. "Whoops, don't think we were discreet enough." He tilts his head subtly in the direction of Windshear. "Hope you had a cover story. Unless this was your plan and sanctimony is just your hobby." Repugnus says, "The hell is going on down there? Satellite's showing another 'con." Skids says, "That's what's going on." Repugnus says, "Well, great. Is this the trap or what?" Skids says, "See, this situation is turning really fluid. Can I get back to you on that?" Repugnus says, "Engh. Frag 'em both. If Outhouse or whatever his name is survives and complains we were too rough later on we'll just say we were being convincing, is all." Outbound blinks. 'Oh-crap-no' explodes all over his expression and quickly the Decepticon glances up at the incoming F-15 Streak Eagle. "I knew it... Too many of you," the infantrymech curses and shoots his gaze back to Blurr. "This is over... Take this at least and review it. See my sincerity. We will have another opportunity, but quick we must make a show of combat-" he hisses while producing a datachip from a subspace portal within his left middle finger. The chip drops right in front of Blurr, difficult to miss given thier proximity, and Outbound leaps back away from the group of Bots, while simultaneously leveling his left forearm which whines and clicks as a magazine is loaded into a forearm ballistics launcher. "The tide has turned, Autobots! Taste hot death!" Combat: Outbound misses Blurr with his Pistol attack! Combat: Outbound (Outbound) used "Pistol": A Level 1 RANGED attack. Skids's voice cones through as very grudgingly holding back what he's actually thinking. "We're outgunned and, if we're not going to get anything out of him, there's no point in our even being here. Who knows who else is on their way or in that shuttle? I know you're in command, but if they open fire, I'm pulling out." Repugnus says, "Bawk bawk bawk bawk." Skids says, "I'm here on the ground and you're not. That's my assessment." It’s all been a lie/I dont even want to know why/you’ve mastered the art of deceiving me now/...are the lyrics drifting out of Windshear's cockpit from the Earth band. The song ends in sudden silence and he focuses on Skids, "Cover story? If I were you I'd be more worried about your cover story over this --" he motions a bladed arm at the situation. As he sees is this is a clear showing of just how sanctimonious Autobots are. "You just don’t like you’re image tarnished in any way -- even if it’s only two Decepticons that see --" his sentence is cut off as Outbound arms himself and jumps back. "Tide has turned indeed." he muses and steps toward the group ready to attack. A dead black McDonnell Douglas F15A transforms into Windshear. Repugnus says, "Oh, FINE. *sigh* We can't all be Monsterbots. Run away with your bumpers between your legs. Or tires. Whatever." Hubcap has heard the seeker's approach, so isn't surprised at his arrival, or at the change in Outbound's behaviour. He's too experienced not to realise there's a game afoot. "Hey, hey! Easy, now, we were just hoping for a little genial conversation, no threat intended," he shoots a glance at Blurr, "Just wondering what your friend was doing here." He smiles, looking embarrassed, "You know us Autobots." Blurr glares at Outbound's comparison of him to a Decepticon. Now he -really- wants to arrest him and hand him over to Repugnus. "You slag-licking waste disposal drone!" he sneers, easily dodging the ballistics launcher, though it wasn't actually meant to hit him in the first place. He draws his electrolaser, intending to stun Outbound and drag him off to base. <> Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Blurr strikes Outbound with his Electro-Laser attack! Combat: Outbound has been temporarily incapacitated. Blurr says, "Skids, take him back to base...I'll deal with that seeker." Skids shakes his head and lifts the liquid-nitrogen rifle bolted to his arm. He did say over the radio that he'd bug out if it came to this, but he'd better do something about the hostile seeker first. He answers along the opposite lines of Outbound's taste-hot-death: "Let the icy liquid flow over your armor, making you wet with condensation, tingle with short-circuits and shiver with thermal contraction." Must still have Fifty Shades of Gray on the brain-box. Combat: Skids sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Skids strikes Windshear with his Liquid Nitrogen Rifle attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Windshear's Agility. (Crippled) Skids throws an aside at the electrified infantrymech: "Oh, and you don't even want to know what the Squishies do with a Van de Graaf generator." Water in any form, cursed H2O, is not the Zombie Seekers friend. Windshear stands there mouth tight fighting against the searing pain flooding his systems right now. Mr. 'shoot my leg off and a I will laugh at you' is using all of his will to not drop to the ground in agony right now from the type of attack that just hit him. With a great forced effort the dead looking Seeker lifts an arm and fires that arm cannon toward Skids. Blurr was his initial target but not now... Combat: Windshear sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Windshear's Slow Ray attack on Skids goes wild! Combat: Windshear strikes Decepticon Shuttle with his Slow Ray attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Decepticon Shuttle 's Agility. (Crippled) ZAP! "Nyaaaahhhhgghh! You m-m-MORON-n-n-n-ngh..." Outbound convulses worse than M.C. Hammer at the Soul Train awards, and the infantrymech goes down. Note to self... Get revenge on Blurr at some point in the future. "Y-y-y-you...f-f-f-" the mech tries to finish, but it takes all of his might to keep from actually drifting off into full on stasis. Wait, did Windshear just hit Triumph?!? Ok, Outbound is getting pissed... Skids quickly patters, "Well, looks like"--glance at the cuffs Outbound kept insisting Blurr bind him with--"he'll get his wish. And you," addressing Windshear, whom he'll pop with a focused electrical blast, "had better leave if you don't want to join him." Blurr is debating. Should he just cuff Outbound now and drag him back to base, or should he help Skids with that seeker? How about both! Well the dragging back to base would have to wait, but the cuffing would work for now. Quickly, while the Decepticon is stunned by the electro-laser, the speedster slaps the stasis cuffs onto him and leaves him there to watch the rest of the fight. FWWOSH - he runs past Windshear, flanking him and attempting to nail him in the side. "Give it up, Decepticon. You're outnumbered and outmatched." Hubcap squeezes shut his optics as Blurr launches into a full-out assault. "I /was/ hoping we could keep this civil, evidently not." Well, if he's been dragged into this fight, might as well sell it. Focusing on Windshear, he sends a burst of junk data straight at the Seeker. Combat: Blurr strikes Windshear with his Quickdraw attack! Combat: Hubcap strikes Windshear with his Super Hearing attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily limited Windshear's Agility! (Crippled) Outbound finds himself cuffed by Blurr, but rather than take him in the speedster zips after Windshear? And Outbound had thought for a time that Blurr was smart... Fool me once. Shaking off the effects of the electro-laser, the infantrymech groans and climbs to his feet with wrists bound. "What a moron... If they see me captured and then released," he mutters. "...they'll never trust me with any notable intel again." Hubcap, fortunately, is close enough to likely hear these mutterings, and Outbound is not about to wait around to be dragged away even in his currently bound state. "Windshear! The cuffs!" he shouts, lifting his arms enough to give Windshear a clear shot. Combat: Outbound sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Outbound sets his defense level to Protected. Windshear is getting hammered. And now hes getting mad. At least the new attacks have dried him out. He regains his footing after the repeated hammering and damaged or no, he turns to attack the closest Autobot. Then he hears Outbound and glances at him. his combat systems are compromised right now. A shot like that might backfire but if thats what he wants. He turns an arm cannon as best he can toward his fellow Decepticon and fires. Combat: Windshear strikes Outbound with his Laser attack! Skids points one of the weapons bolted to his wrist at Outbound, the other at Windshear. "Last chance to get out of here in one piece," he portends. Combat: Skids takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Slag it, now Outbound was free. But wait, he'd been the one wanting to get interrogated in the first place! Maybe that wasn't a bad thing. Maybe that was a good excuse to murder him instead. Especially since Repugnus was totally okay with that. Well Repugnus was always okay with murder in any form. But still--Outbound had agreed to their terms...Blurr may be a piston rod but he does have some shred of honor, at least more so than Repugnus. He opens a private comm to Outbound as he continues to attack Windshear, this time transforming and directing a sonic boom his way. << If we're lucky he'll get his afterburners out of here before he figures out what's really going on. If you want your interrogation, I suggest you pretend you're still incapacitated somehow.>> In a flurry of moving parts, Blurr folds down into a pale blue-colored supersonic hovercar. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar strikes Windshear with his Sonic Boom attack! "Don't be stupid, Decepticon!" Blurr taunts the seeker. "Skids has a point, you don't want to get your aft slagged, you'd better get out of here while you still can." Hubcap waves towards Windshear, and cries out to the others, "Take that seeker down!" With that, he throws himself at Outbound, trying to topple the 'Con. Succeed or not, he ends up close. He hisses quietly, "Tell them you're trying to manipulate us, we'll watch you, and perhaps we can try this again. Combat: Hubcap strikes Outbound with his Existential Uncertainty. (Grab) attack! The cuffs are blasted, and the shards fall to pieces at Outbound's sides. Good shot, Windshear! Even if it did singe his armor a bit... The communication from Blurr causes the infantrymech to laugh. "Must be joking..." he murmurs before replying to the speedster. <> "Windshear! I am free! These fools have failed, and are giving us the opportunity to retreat--lets take it!" With that said Outbound is thrown forward and into a tumble that sends him rolling across the plain. Rising to a crouch in the next moment, he pauses just long enough to speak in a hushed tone. "If Windshear tells anyone what he heard... Yes, that should suffice to cover my actions." Quickly, Outbound dives forward and transforms, his chassis never touching the ground again as the hovertank's hoverjets power on and the Decepticon surfs all ahead full to the boarding ramp of Triumph. Hiss, pop, whirr, grind, snap, click- HOVERTANK-23! Combat: HOVERTANK-23 begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Cybertronian Hovercar and Decepticon Shuttle Windshear realizes this bot posse is for real and glances at Blurr, "Youre right, there is nothing worth this." then he glaces at Outbound and starts to say something but then changes his mind. Normally he would never retreat even this damaged but theres no reason for him to stay regardless that Outbound has retreated. He shakes his head as if to clear his interal HUD from all the damage reports flooding into it and steps back. "Im tired of this slag for no reason." he mutters and retracting his arm blades he lifts up slowly and transforms into jet mode. Then lighting up his afterburners abit sluggishly the Streak Eagle heads away. Combat: Windshear begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Cybertronian Hovercar , Skids, Decepticon Shuttle , and HOVERTANK-23 Skids maybe overacts a little bit as he plays along with the ruse. He bellows after them, "You'd better run! Like Ana from Christian Gray!" Windshear transforms into a dead black McDonnell Douglas F15A. Skids radios out, <> 'Cap Hubcap says, "Uhh, Skids? Are we going to have to restrict your reading selections?" Repugnus says, "Depends. If he's reading Hustler, I grant him permission to continue." Blurr sighs, picking up the microchip Outbound had left for him. He shrugs. He could race after them and get one last shot, but what was the point? He shakes his head. What a waste of time and energon this had been. "Ugh...let's get back to base...see what this piece of scrap has to tell us, if it's worth anything." Hubcap climbs to his feet and raises a hand, <> he transmits. Turning his back on the Decepticons with a scowl. "Prepare your reports on this incident, put them on my desk, I'll take them to Repugnus." He glances over at Blurr. "Put that under the highest level of scrutiny. Isolated system, ICE, ICE breakers, the full works. No trust." "Of course, Hubcap." Blurr nods, saluting sharply. "Hopefully next time our luck will be better." he smirks slightly, though. "Still, it was fun beating the slag out of them." He then transforms and makes off back toward Autobot City. Autobot Message: 3/106 Posted Author Intelligence Update Thu Feb 07 Blurr ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Another text update from Autobot Intelligence, written specifically by Blurr. A party consisting of myself, Skids, and Hubcap were deployed to the rendevous point specified in the message from the Decepticon Outbound. We were about to take him into custody when another Decepticon, a seeker later determined to be Windshear, arrived upon the scene and attacked. Outbound appeared to have no prior knowledge of the attack, and expressed his intent to attempt to be captured again--without witnesses. He then proceeded to engage us in combat. The team dealt effectively with the two Decepticons, forcing them to retreat. Outbound left a microchip with us, however, containing footage from a Decepticon sensor array in the Congo Basin. The footage is attached; it is composed of Triggerhappy attacking and destroying a primitive human village, and Outbound...coming to their rescue? Yes, it would appear that he had attacked the aerospace gunner to protect the humans. Also, Autobot records would indicate that Blurr and Ford Benett had found evidence of a fight in that very area, so it's not likely to be fabricated...though it could have been staged. Would have been easy to manipulate the humans, that was for certain.